Black History Month Celebration: “Black as Night” Movie Review
Black as Night, 2021, Horror/Thriller
When this movie popped up in my recommendations on Amazon I was stoked. If we were to judge it on synopsis and trailer alone, the ingredients should have added up to a top tier treat in the world of Ellen: NOLA, a legacy of Vampires, teenagers battling forces of evil, etc etc. Sadly, like so many other flicks with well-cut trailers in genre cinema, the actual movie just doesn't live up to the excitement and energy promised. I'm not quite sure how to deliver this review coherently without spoilers so I'm going to do a little bulleted list of qualities that I liked and disliked.
I despise leaving a review off on a negative, and prefer to get those out of the way first:
- There is a strange preoccupation (by the overtly male writer) of having the main character talk about "growing breasts" as if it were a key point of her personality. It is not as if her breasts are an integral plot point or if her body is the tool she uses to get ahead. Literally this weird statement pops up more than one time, and once was too much if I’m being honest. It was really uncomfortable and so much so that it's the first thing I think of when I see the movie title pop up. Not a good thing, my dude. Not a good thing...
- Giving our feisty heroine "self-esteem issues" in order to thrust her into the spotlight with opportunities to "save the world" is a cheap shot, especially when considering the self-esteem issues come from abusive family members, abusive friends, garbage adult mentors, etc. Y'all really should leave this girl to have some peace and give her another narrative angle, any other one is better. And girl, please get some better friends yours are trash.
- Sexism and colorism is rampant and quite frankly thoroughly overused. I understand that the above two negative traits are very closely linked to the point where this seems redundant, but it's worthy of its own bullet point because I hate it that much. The talent lineup features a mostly teenaged cast, and could've been a fantastic opportunity to give these characters intelligent, clever, smart, and empathetic personalities. Literally you can write any character you want and empower an entire generation with iconic roles, but you choose to have them belittle and shame one another? Nah. Pick another angle. I do think it's valid to include elements like this in worldbuilding and character development, but it can't be the only quality you show.
- The child sexual abuse vibes are NOT IT. Look, I realize older vampires seducing youth or even child vampires are not a new thing (thanks Anne Rice!) but there's a really fine line that is toed between "don't really like it or agree, but ok fine I accept" and "ick get me the fuck outta here." This for sure is the latter. I'm not a fan of the way this predatory creepy male character and sacrificial virgin teenage girl thing is used. I won't spoil it, but ick no thank you that made me so uncomfortable.
Okay now that I got that out of the way I'd like to talk about what I did enjoy, because I did 3-star this on Letterboxd!
- Points for the incredibly talented and very diverse cast and on centering so many non-white characters! I very much enjoyed the fact that this movie leans into its location and racial demographic of the areas. I loved seeing so much young talent really getting a chance for some screen time and showing off what these kids can do. They can act well, they really owned their characters (even if the writing and motivations were weak, they did their best!) and they were truly very charming part of the movie (when they weren't being shitty to one another thanks to poor writing).
- Cheers for using the vampire motif to cover several well-tread topics but in new, inventive ways. The vampires are used as metaphor for addiction, power and control, and as a shift in racial dynamics centering around the American South. I appreciated the changeover from the mostly-white vampires of Anne Rice stories to the multi-ethnic Black and Brown vampires of "Black as Night". I also respect the way that drug addiction and vampirism were intertwined, and even if it wasn't a new angle for the trope it was well-executed.
- Absolutely without a doubt I truly enjoyed the fight scenes and the brutal vampire deaths. I thought that was entertaining, fun, and just what I hoped they'd deliver as a modern vampire tale.
- Love that this is set in the more suburban and urban areas of NOLA and the south instead of sprawling plantations and white-centric neighborhoods. It still deals with topics of slavery, racism, etc, but changing the location focus really provided new context and much needed power shift.
I think what saved this film for me personally is the fact that the director of the film is Maritte Lee Go. She handled the script and its flaws as well as she could, and provided a much less sexist context than would have done in the hands of a man. Our leading lady certainly faces a lot, but she is shown to be equal parts vulnerable and brave, and her naive teenage choices are balanced with the fact that she has also had to "grow up" a little too fast. That being said, I think it is a little unfair to put all that heavy lifting and correction on the shoulders of the director and the cast. I believe a lot of this movie's flaws could have been remedied from the start simply by having a less misogynistic angle, and a more sex positive, body positive, empowering viewpoint. It is possible for male writers to show a little more empathy towards women and non-cishet characters, but some of them still seem to need a little help getting there.
Despite its flaws, I do think "Black as Night" was watchable enough, and I would like to explore more of this world by way of a sequel! I would love for this cast to have more opportunities to explore this world and these clans of vampires, but I beg of the writers to do a little soul searching on how to tackle emotional turmoil on social issues/pressures before doing so.
Movie review by Ellen Avigliano
Twitter: @imaginariumcs
Instagram: @imaginariumarts
Website: www.imaginariumarts.com
